title: Lumican, a small leucine-rich proteoglycan.
abstract: Lumican belongs to the family of small leucine-rich repeat proteoglycans. Recent studies have shown that lumican participates in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and modulates cellular functions including cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. The expression of lumican has been correlated to the growth and metastasis of various malignancies; however, its exact role in tumorogenesis remains elusive. This review focuses upon the role of lumican in cell biology, providing insights into molecular mechanisms that lumican likely utilizes to control processes relevant to tumorogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Lab of Histology, Medical School, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nikitovic
authors.forename: Paulos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katonis
authors.forename: Aristidis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsatsakis
authors.forename: Nikos K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Karamanos
authors.forename: George N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Tzanakakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007632:Keratan Sulfate / Q000502:physiology*; D007930:Leucine / Q000378:metabolism; D000071234:Lumican; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; C000604306:LUM protein, human; D000071234:Lumican; D007632:Keratan Sulfate; D007930:Leucine